A New Chapter
by WolfyLuvs2Write
Summary: 221B gained a new resident, a woman who was more noticeable than she'd wished. Adeline Thomas joins the Baker Street duo while dealing with her own personal problems. Maybe it'll help, maybe it'll make it worse, she won't be able to tell until it does. Rated T for slight gore and cursing, as well as maybe other future things. I'll put up any warnings necessary/change the rating.
1. Chapter One

**Wow, i've rewritten this story quite a lot. Only like, once or twice on this site, though. Sorry, but I feel okay with this now. Hope you like ^^**

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"What are you planning on doing now?" Lestrade leaned back in his swivel chair, his legs stretched before him under the desk he stationed at, a grim look set on his features. The office was dead silent besides the squeaks coming from his chair when he shifted.

Opposite from him sat a younger woman who shrugged at Lestrade's inquiry. She sat curled up in one of the chairs stationed behind Lestrade's desk, arms pulled close to her chest while her legs covered them. Her expression was blank besides the slight furrow of her brows while she played with her hands.

Lestrade ran a hand down his face and moved forward in his seat to rest his elbows on his desk. The atmosphere felt heavy and the situation was stressful as the two friends tried to come to terms with what's happened recently. "Have you got any family elsewhere?"

The girl sighed through her nose, running a hand through her already tangled ink-black curls. Her eyes traveled up towards Lestrade's, the hopeless look in them silently telling him the answer to his question. He nodded and buried his face in his hands.

The door to Lestrade's office opened unexpectedly, startling the two already inside. Their eyes traveled up to whoever interrupted, only this visitor wasn't as surprising as any other.

"Don't you knock?" Lestrade shook his head at his visitors, who stayed put at the threshold. The intrusion was made by Sherlock Holmes and John Watson, two regulars at Scotland Yard.

"I need a case." Sherlock's words were simple, straight to the point. He didn't seem phased by the dreadful feeling the room gave off, but he did spot the woman in the chair. While John tried to apologized to Lestrade about Sherlock's rude behavior Sherlock took a quick sweep over the woman's frame while he had the chance. Her eyes were trained on the people behind him, listening to their conversation while she curled further in her seat. She was pretty small, petite with dark shoulder-length curls and dark brown eyes. Her skin was abnormally pale, from not enough natural lighting, Sherlock speculated, and her eyes were red from crying and constantly rubbing them. The furrow in her brows also added to Sherlock's guesses that the business her and Lestrade were dealing with wasn't very pleasant.

Dark orbs caught bright ones in a split second before the woman turned her head the other direction.

"I apologize for Sherlock's impudence, Adeline." Lestrade's voice bought her attention, and the woman who now had a name, stood. She gave a weak smile, tugging her long sweater sleeves over her fists and hugged them around herself.

"It's okay, Lestrade." Her voice was quiet and hoarse, but she managed to make it so he was capable of hearing it. "I'll come back another time. Thank you for your time." Lestrade appeared to have wanted to object, but then decided it was for the best. He lead her out the office while the consulting detective and ex-army doctor waited inside. The two hugged before Adeline left and Lestrade came back in to address the two men.

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"I can't thank you enough, Mrs. Hudson."

Mrs. Hudson waved a hand at the gratitude practically rolling off of Adeline as the two descended from her bedroom in 221B Baker Street. "Oh, no need to thank me dear. I'm glad you called when you did!" Mrs. Hudson had known Adeline since the girl was little and in diapers, so when Adeline jumped at the chance for an open room in the complex the landlady was overjoyed.

"Are you completely sure I can stay?" Adeline troubled, over-worried if her stay wasn't welcomed or not. Mrs. Hudson shook her head, grabbing the girl by the shoulders gently. "You're stay is always welcomed, Adeline. Although I hope you aren't too upset about having flatmates."

Adeline gave the woman a look that automatically gave the woman her opinion on the situation. She already knew coming in that it was a possibility, but now that she was here Adeline was a little worried. She grew up to be very shy, part of it due to her sheltered childhood.

"W-what are they like?" Mrs. Hudson paused to think of a way to describe the occupants of the flat. It was difficult to put those two to words...

"Mrs. Hudson, we're back!" a voice downstairs accompanied by the shut of the entrance door caught both women's' attention. Mrs. Hudson smiled, calling out to notify them of her presence in the flat before turning back to Adeline. A horror-stricken look took over the young woman's features. "That would be them. Let me just introduce-"

Adeline darted past Mrs. Hudson before the landlady could finish that statement. Mrs. Hudson sighed but turned to greet Sherlock and John as they came into the flat, hanging up their coats before settling down.

"Find any good cases?" A grunt from the agitated consulting detective was the only response she got. "Right, then. I'll be downstairs-"

"Who was that earlier?" Sherlock interrupted her, turning to stare at her. "You were talking with someone." Mrs. Hudson snapped her fingers, chuckling to herself for forgetting.

"Oh, that was a new resident." she explained. "She'll be living across from John, if that's alright?" John nodded, okay with it. "She just moved in this morning after needing a place to stay."

"Is there anything wrong, Sherlock?" Mrs. Hudson added, spotting Sherlock's unreadable expression. The man straightened and turned back to his chair. "As long as she doesn't get in the way, not at all."

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 **Finally, I got around to writing this first chapter up! I've been meaning to for a while now but procrastination had me in it;s clutches. And I guess school could be put up for partial blame on this one. I don't know when I'll get around to finishing the second chapter of Adventure Ahead! yet, but I'm planning on doing so soon. As for this story, I'll probably have the second chapter up soon, unless other ideas come to play.**

 **~Wolfy**


	2. Chapter 2

It wasn't until the next day that the usual residents of 221B Baker Street got to meet their new flatmate. Sherlock and John were both relaxed in their chairs as the day went by painfully slow. No cases had sprung up or caught the consulting detective's attention so they were bored. They were both about to call it a night when a set of footprints broke the silence.

Both men looked up from their seats to spot Adeline, who had just arrived from work. She froze, furrowing her brows at their staring, before uttering a soft greeting. "H-hello."

"Hello, Adeline." John smiled, trying to break the awkward feeling in the room. She gave a small smile back. John opened his mouth again to say something but Sherlock interrupted him when he stood suddenly from his seat and strode past him to almost tower over Adeline, who took a step back, surprised and confused.

"You're the woman from Scotland Yard. You were with Lestrade in his office, correct?" Adeline sputtered, trying to form a response but was cut off. "Nevermind that, I always am." Adeline's eyebrows rose at his statement.

"Close friends, obviously from the casualty between each other. You're in your...mid twenties. You were born an only child and lived a sheltered childhood, causing your difficulties at socializing with other people. You work at a pet shop a block away from the flat, considering your clothing is covered in pet hair." Adeline blushed, looking down to see that, in fact, her black pants and shirt were covered in hair. "You like your job but not the people you work with. Now, about the other day-"

John stood from his seat, catching on to where Sherlock was headed. "Sherlock-"

"You and Lestrade were both having a serious conversation, presumably about a loved one's death. Your parents', in fact." Adeline flinched as her eyes began to water, a look of confliction appeared on her face. The wound was still fresh, apparently.

"Happened not too long ago, I'd say...two weeks ago, maybe longer but that's not important-"

" _Sherlock!"_ Said man raised a hand as to say 'hold on I'm almost finished.' John threw up his hands in annoyance, sending Adeline an apologetic glance for his flatmate's behavior.

"How they died, well it wasn't that hard to figure out by your haunted expression. They were killed, by a burglar most likely. You and Lestrade were thinking of your next option since you obviously lived with them still. You didn't want to live in the same house, so you decided to move. Mrs. Hudson is an old family friend so you reached out to her, knowing she was a landlady. Ecstatic to hear from you, it was clear that she'd let you stay, giving you the room next to John's." Sherlock's eyes swept over her frame, stopping shortly at her right hand. "You're a writer from the looks of your hands. Besides you're shy tendencies you are quite friendly and open to meeting people, not fond of loud environments and organized by the state of your room."

"Y-you went in my room?" Adeline stuttered, her eyes dry now and instead of looking upset, astounded. This man was both surprisingly observant but stupidly ignorant of other people's privacy. Sherlock smirked. "You have a large selection of books, so that was another clue to your love for literature. Besides the callouses on your right hand, there were a few journals laying on your desk that led me to believe you liked to write."

"What the bloody hell, Sherlock." John sighed, shaking his head. "I am so sorry, Adeline. This-this is just how he is." Adeline shook her head, a small smirk on her face. These two now knew a lot about her, which kind of made her feel more comfortable around them now that she didn't have to tell them any of that in that awkward phase of getting to know someone. It was strange, but it worked.

"It's quite fine, really." The blush on her face deepened despite her previous thoughts. "How you knew all of that is too confusing, but you got most of it right." Sherlock tilted his head, a furrow in his brows. " _Most?_ "

Adeline's eyes met his, a surge of confidence going through her as a little smirk grew. "The shyness wasn't caused by my sheltered childhood. It was the cause _of_ my sheltered childhood. My parents didn't think it'd do me any good to push me out there so they instead chose to protect me." A frown etched onto Sherlock's face at the fact that he had got a fact wrong.

"Don't worry, that's usual in most childhoods, mine not being the case." Adeline inhaled sharply, already starting to feel awkward again. "It was nice meeting you two." She then headed up to her room, smiling to herself.

"Are you happy now, that you've just about harassed our new flatmate?" John asked sarcastically, watching as Sherlock returned to his chair. The only response he got was a small smirk that crawled on the consulting detectives face.

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 **Here's the second chapter, yay! Although I feel uncertain about it, I'm not very good at writing shy characters? Well, not with Adeline. She's not completely shy, mostly just shy when talking? If that makes any sense. Please review, I love to hear feedback on my writing! I wish to improve, I really love this character and I want to portray her in the best way I can :3**


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